Ferry (top left) was ringleader of the gang which flooded a Lincolnshire town with drugs.

A local businessman and drugs gang ringleader who brought huge quantities of heroin and cocaine into a Lincolnshire town has been sentenced to 16 years in prison alongside several other dealers.

In total, 12 men received jail sentences with a combined total of 113 years and 10 months.

A 13th defendant was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 120 hours of unpaid work in the community.

As previously reported, car dealer Jonathan Ferry headed the Grantham-based gang which brought in hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs from Manchester and Nottinghamshire during a nine month period.

Jonathan Ferry (left) was sees as the ringleader of the gang which flooded a Lincolnshire town with drugs.

M Cat and amphetamine were also brought in to make vast profits.

Couriers from Manchester had supplied cocaine on at least 13 occasions to the Grantham group with evidence showing that in the region of 1.5kgs of the drug with a potential street sale value of £90,000 was brought in each time.

On one occasion Ryan Anderson, a drugs courier from Manchester, was found with £26,000 cash after being stopped by police on his way back over the Pennines after making a delivery.

Heroin supplies were brought in from North Nottinghamshire area with up to 2.5 kgs with a street sale value of £137,000 being supplied at a time.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, described car dealer Jonathan Ferry as head of the Grantham drugs gang with Adam Higgs as his right hand man.

The Judge said: “Ferry was at the very heart of this operation which he controlled. He played an organising role in the buying and selling of drugs. He expected and no doubt got substantial financial gain.

“He drove a Ranger Rover with a personalised number plate. Found at his address was a receipt indicating he had bought it for £23,500 paying with cash. He had gold jewellery, a quantity of cash. There were four Rolex watches and two Armani watches.

“Ferry had a reputation in Grantham as an established drug dealer. He played a leading role and was very important in this operation.”

Turning to Higgs, the judge said: “He played an extremely important role. It was a leading role but under Ferry’s direction. Higgs was, I am sure, Ferry’s right hand man.”

The judge said Paul Hull was another of the leading members of the drugs operation.

“He was a trusted courier who was in close contact with Ferry, Higgs, Straw and Sly. He played an extremely significant role.”

He added that Straw and Sly, based in the Retford and Ollerton areas, operated as a partnership and were also key members of the conspiracy while other defendants played lesser roles either as couriers or through involvement in processing drugs ready for onward sale.

At the end of the case the judge praised the police team involved in investigating the case.

He said: “This has been the result of a great many painstaking and diligent hours of police work. The officers and all involved are to be commended.”

The 13 defendants received the following sentences this morning by Judge John Pini QC:

Tyrone Sly, 46, of Bye Path Road, Retford – 10 years six months jail

James Straw, 50, of Petersmith Drive, New Ollerton, Newark – 16 years jail